Good morning and welcome to today’s edition of the Daily Briefing – click here to subscribe!
Aberdeen
English clubs are monitoring Aberdeen striker Duk. The talented 23-year-old has 13 goals and 6 assists this season in Scotland after Darren Mowbray signed him. Duk joined Aberdeen from Benfica on 50% deal for free, now attracting interest from English clubs for the summer.
AC Milan
Fair to remind how much AC Milan paid for their defenders after two clean sheets in both legs against Tottenham:
Mike Maignan: €15m
Pierre Kalulu: free agent
Malick Thiaw: €6m
Fikayo Tomori: €29m
Four players for a total of just €50m.
I’m aware there have been stories linking Gianluca Scamacca with AC Milan but I wouldn’t read too much into them for now. Of course he’s linked with return to Italy as he’s Italian and Serie A clubs know him very well. I’m sure Milan will sign a new striker next summer, but there’s nothing advanced or concrete for Scamacca yet as he has to pick new agents after leaving his former agent; this is crucial step, also West Ham have not spoken to any club about Scamacca.
Arsenal
Arsenal are very happy with Jorginho, on the pitch but also in the dressing room he had great impact and they’re very happy with him. I still believe that Arsenal want a new midfielder in the summer to help Mikel Arteta if they find the right opportunity, but Jorginho is a permanent signing and they’re convinced it was an excellent deal.
Barcelona
Brazilian star Vitor Roque: “I definitely feel prepared to play in Europe. I work for it, I’m focused on getting there as prepared as possible.”
Barcelona are pushing on both player and club deal with Athletico Paranaense to advance in the negotiations.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich look unstoppable in the Champions League this season. After an impressive win to knock out PSG, their record so far is 8 games, 8 wins, 7 clean sheets, and 21 goals scored.
FC Bayern consider it just a matter of time for Lucas Hernandez to sign a new contract, as the agreement is imminent and his extension was already decided after his injury.
Bayern are also working on the proposal for Jamal Musiala’s new long term deal, one of the future priorities.
Thomas Muller: “Against Messi, things always go well at all levels in terms of results. At club level, Cristiano Ronaldo was our problem when he was at Real Madrid. I have the greatest respect for Messi’s World Cup performance.”
Benfica
Goncalo Ramos has €120m release clause included into his contract, it won’t be easy at all to negotiate with Benfica. At the moment there’s still nothing advanced, just many clubs sending their scouts to follow him; PSG wanted Goncalo last summer but he was untouchable for Benfica.
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund are in advanced, verbal talks to sign Daichi Kamada on a free transfer, nothing signed yet. English clubs know very well the conditions of the deal, but BVB remain favourites to sign Kamada; nothing has changed, at this stage.
Borussia Dortmund director Sebastian Kehl on Jude Bellingham: “We will do all we can to keep Bellingham at BVB for one more season.”
But it’s not easy at all as Manchester City, Real Madrid and Liverpool keep pushing to sign him.
Brentford
David Raya is expected to leave Brentford in the summer. He’s waiting for a big move after turning down two contract offers in the last few months. Clubs are tracking Raya, exploring the conditions of possible summer deal.
Brighton
Many clubs are tracking Brighton wonderkid Evan Ferguson. Scouts are always keeping an eye on him… but there’s Brighton! It’s always easy to mention top clubs for Brighton players but they know how to negotiate in the best way, and it’s not easy to sign players from them. They hope to keep Ferguson at least for one more year.
Chelsea
Kai Havertz on Graham Potter: “In the media I can’t believe how many people talk about him… we have 100’s of coaches in England who think they know better than him. We know in the changing room he’s a big personality, big manager, he helps us all a lot.”
Club Brugge
Official: Scott Parker has been sacked as manager of Club Brugge following their Champions League exit. Parker has been fired twice in one year, in two different countries.